Cutting edge honing is the process of slightly rounding off the cutting edges of a cutting tool or tool bit. Newly ground cutting tools often have cutting edges that are very sharp, which tend to rapidly wear and/or weaken at the tips leading to breaking of the tool. Thus, the cutting edges are “honed” or slightly rounded off by creating a rounded edge having a very small radius on the cutting edges, such that these problems are reduced and greater stability of the tool at low rotation speeds is enabled, without significantly reducing the effectiveness of the cutting tool.
Known cutting edge honing methods include: extrude honing, in which a putty loaded with granular abrasive is used; Burlytic™ systems, an electro-chemical deburring method using a power source and an electrolyte solution; and brushing and tumbling techniques. However, disadvantages exits with these known honing methods. Most of these methods are either time consuming and expensive, difficult to perform and control, or fail to ensure consistent and repeatable results resulting in cutting edges which are not evenly smooth.
Accordingly, an improved cutting edge honing process is desired.